Alice Human Sacrifice
by Shrooma
Summary: A dream creature is lonely and does not want to be forgotten, so it pulls innocent people into its realm to see what happens. Rated for mild-ish violence, some swearing, and creepiness.
1. The First Alice, Meiko

Hello! I'm fairly new here, and I never thought I was good at writing. But one day, I was bored and the song Alice Human Sacrifice was stuck in my head, so I decided to write a fic about it. I'm terribly sorry if the first two chapters are awful; they should be better in the future. Happy reading!

* * *

Once upon a time, in a place unknown, there was a dream. Nobody knew who had dreamt the dream, but such a tiny dream it was. The tiny dream began to think, _I don't want to disappear. How can I make people dream of me?_ The tiny dream thought and thought, and finally it came up with an idea. "I will let the humans stray into me. And then, I will let them create the world…"

* * *

Many years later, a short haired brunette got ready for bed. Her name was Meiko, just Meiko. She didn't prefer to use her last name, so she dropped it. She eased herself into bed and let the events of the day flow through her mind. There was that weird guy at school hitting on Luka again...Rin had popped out of a closet and scared Len...and there was...there was...

Meiko had drifted off into a deep sleep. She snuggled under the warmth of the comforter, and...she was gone.

The brunette woke up in a strange land; right in the middle of a forest. A small skeleton like thing approached her.

"Hello," it said, in a raspy voice, "I'm so excited to meet you, my dear Meiko."

Said girl raised an eyebrow. "Why would you be excited to see me? And how do you know my name? And what the hell are you, any-"

Meiko was cut off by a dark chuckle. "Oh, I have known your name for a long while. There is no need for you to know mine. I'm excited to see you because you're the first Alice in my Wonderland."

"Alice? Since when did my name change?"

Another dark chuckle.

"Ah, that is just what I call the people who come here. Before you make yourself at home, I will have to give you a few things first..."

Meiko sighed. "Whatever. Just make it quick."

"Quite the impatient one, are we?"

"Duh."

The creature grinned a demonic grin, and beckoned to the brown haired girl. Meiko hesitated, but walked slowly toward the thing.

"Bend down, so I can see your face."

Meiko, surprisingly, did as she was told. "Good girl. Hmm...you seem like a spade to me." She felt a small, wispy hand brush across her cheek.

"And one more thing..." The tiny creature nodded to the ground beside her. There was a new looking, silver sword sitting there. _Huh,_ Meiko thought. _That wasn't there before...oh well! If some idiot tries to mess with me... _She quickly snatched up the sword. "Okay, can I go now?"

"Yes, you may. Have fun, red one~!"

It didn't occur to Meiko that her clothes had changed. She was wearing a red dress, with lace and frills at the chest, sleeves, and the very bottom of the dress. There was lace adorning her white knee socks as well. Her black Mary-Janes pounded against the forest floor as she ran to find, well, anything. Meiko didn't even know how long she was running. It was just all forest. She wanted to find a village or something. Meiko ran and ran, until she ran into something solid...and breathing.

She slowly looked down to find...a cute little baby lamb. It looked at her with curious eyes. Meiko was about to go pet it, but the red spade shaped mark on her cheek pulsed. Meiko withdrew her hand, well actually her hand withdrew. Meiko didn't want to move her arm. Her hand reached for her sword, and she hacked at the small lamb. Its blood splattered the the trees as a grin spread across Meiko's face. "That was fun!" she said aloud.

* * *

The population of the forest was growing smaller. Every time Meiko saw a living creature, she would slash at it, or sometimes through the neck for even more fun. If you were to walk through that forest (which is not a smart idea at all) you could tell exactly where she had walked, because all those bloodstains will leave a path. Meiko killed and killed, day after day, until something finally changed.

Meiko woke up, hopped off the forest floor, and began looking for some animals to kill. Now, there were tree spirits watching her since she came into the Wonderland. They were not happy at all with what she created.

"Hm, looks like the first Alice is just a mindless killer. She should be punished for her crimes..." said a tree spirit to another. The other spirit agreed, and told all the other spirits of their plan.

Meiko hummed a random tune as she skipped through the forest, but she was unhappy that so many of the animals were gone. After a long while, she came across a darker part of the forest. She turned and walked around there for a while. All of a sudden, tree branches shot out at the girl. She thrashed, but couldn't escape. The branches pulled the flailing brunette deep into the forest to die, where hopefully, nobody would find her.

* * *

_The first Alice went walking through the woods of Wonderland_  
_Bravely, with a fearsome sword clutched in her fevered hand,_  
_She cut down creatures in the way of her unyielding wrath_  
_Leaving carnage in her wake by a red and bloody path_  
_The first Alice strayed too far and too deep in the wood_  
_It marked her as a sinner and locked her in there for good_  
_Much like the gruesome path that marked her murdering way_  
_Her life remained a mystery until this very day_


	2. The Second Alice, Kaito

An attractive blue-haired teenager walked into his bedroom. He pulled out two more poems from Meiko and Miku. This boy, Kaito, was very popular; not only because of his looks, but because of his charm and wit as well. His voice wasn't bad either. Kaito ate the last bite of his favorite: Strawberry Hagden Dazs ice cream. He tossed the empty container onto a growing pile by his night stand. The blue-haired man sighed, and kicked the pile a little so it didn't seem so big. He flipped his iPod on and jumped into bed. He closed his eyes and smiled. _Life is great_, he though as he fell asleep.

Not anymore.

About five minutes after he had fallen asleep, Kaito awoke in a strange village. It was night, so the village was dark and empty, save for candlelight in a few windows. Kaito stood up and started to walk around. He was trying to find a place to stay, until he felt something cold by his legs. Kaito looked down; there was nothing. He was about to start walking again, when he heard a dry cough from behind him. The teen turned around and saw a transparent...skeleton...ghost...thing that he had apparently walked right through. It grinned at him.

"Hello, Second Alice! Welcome to Wonderland!"

Kaito gave the thing a funny look. "Alice? I'm male, if you haven't noticed yet."

A chuckle.

"No, no, I know your name is Kaito."

"I'm not going to comment on the creepiness of you knowing my name, but why call me—"

"Shhh," said the thing, a playful smile on its face. "No time for questions."

Kaito felt chills up and down his spine as the creature looked right into his face. After what seemed like forever, the thing said, "Oh, you're obviously a diamond!" It jumped up right to Kaito's face and lightly touched the side. He brought his hand up to his cheek, but felt nothing.

"What did you do? Or are you just messing with me?"

Another chuckle.

"To put it simply, I put a blue diamond-shaped mark on your cheek. That's all I'm going to say," Kaito furrowed his brow, then turned around to leave. "Wait! I'm not done yet!" He turned around to see the skeleton-ghost creature jumping and waving its arms. "You can sing, right?"

"Of course I can!"

"Good! Take these! The villagers are so bored, why not sing to them?" It held out old-looking pages of lyrics. Kaito immediately snatched them and walked off. "Have fun in Wonderland, Alice!"

"It's KAITO!"

As Kaito walked down the dark road, he scanned the lyrics, getting a little freaked out. The songs had lyrics like "If anyone goes against her, rip their throat out while they scream. Toss the corpse in the haunted corner, but don't clean up the lovely blood stream," Kaito shuddered, but he kind of liked the lyrics. They were beautiful, in their own little way. He shoved the lyrics in his pocket and looked around until he saw an empty house. Kaito fell asleep the moment he hit the bed.

When Kaito awoke, he looked around the small hut, confused. _I'm still here? I thought Wonderland was only a dream…_ Kaito told himself not to panic and that this was probably just a bad dream. But little did he know that it was going to become a nightmare.

He picked up the lyrics off the floor. When he looked down, he noticed that his clothes were slightly different. He was wearing a white button-down shirt, and plain brown pants. He was grateful that his blue scarf remained. Kaito headed out the door, and set off for the village square.

The sun shone brightly as the villagers walked around, going about their daily business. The diamond mark twitched, and Kaito walked up to a beautifully made fountain right in the middle, pulled out his songs, and began to sing. People stopped in their tracks and dropped what they were carrying. Their only thought was the sound of his voice, which sounded a lot better than Kaito had expected. He sounded fantastic.

"But don't clean up the lovely blood stream~!" Kaito ended on a low note. The villagers went wild; they threw white roses at him, clapped, cheered, and demanded more. Kaito smiled, and sang.

Kaito sang, again and again, day and night. He seemed to not have to sleep or eat. He just stood by that fountain and sang, his lyrics always changing. The songs the creature had given him were long gone. Haunting thought of love, loss, and sorrow formed in his mind, and the words poured out of his mouth.

One day, Kaito stopped singing. What was left of his mind was a blank. "Umm...If anyone goes against her, rip their throat—"

"NO!" the crowd shouted. "WE WANT NEW MUSIC! MORE, MORE, MORE!"

They began to chant, and came at Kaito from all sides.

"MORE, MORE, MORE!"

They pressed up against him.

"MORE, MORE, MORE!"

He couldn't move.

"MORE, MORE, MORE!"

Their faces contorted.

"MORE, MORE, MORE!"

They looked like demons now.

"MORE, MORE, MORE!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Kaito shouted, an insane look in his eyes. "JUST SHUT UP!" He pulled out a gun, and pointed it to the side of his head. The crowd had stepped back a little to give him room, and their faces were filled with awe and wonder.

Kaito pulled the trigger.

Crimson blood poured out of his head. He laughed, and with his last breath he whispered, "I'm free..." He fell to the ground, and his breathing slowed to a stop. The blood flowed out and onto the white roses the crowd had thrown at him.

The crowd snatched up the dripping red roses. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" Everyone kissed their rose, and they all blinked at the same time. Their eyes seemed less hazy and scary, and the dark smiles left their faces. They had all dropped their roses, and went about their business once again.

The dream creature faded in next to Kaito. "Tsk, tsk. He went mad, the poor boy." it mused. "Ah, it seems like everyone else has forgotten him." it pointed a finger at Kaito, who faded away. He reappeared in a deep hole, dirt already raining down on him. The creature smiled. "This should entertain me for a while…"

_The second Alice was a tame and tender gentleman  
Singing songs to all the folks who lived in Wonderland  
He sang a song so blue to fill his empty little world  
Created sounds of madness waiting to be unfurled  
This Alice was as fragile as the flowers all around  
The madness took a hold of him and shot him to the ground  
Blood stained the roses to a bright and somber red  
And those who shunned him loved the roses soiled from where he bled_


	3. The Third Alice, Miku

Author's Note: This one should be WAY better than the first two. It took forever, and it's uber-long. But that's a good thing, right? C:

* * *

A teal-haired girl skipped into her room, her long pigtails streaming behind her. She hummed as she brushed her hair and changed into a new green nightgown. She twirled around her room for a while in the silk dress. Miku Hatsune stopped, then beamed at her reflection. She hopped into bed and pulled the covers over her body. _I feel like a princess~_ She thought as she curled up under the sheets. She was about to become much more than that in a few minutes.

Miku woke up in a beautiful kingdom. She immediately jumped up and was about to start looking around when she heard a strange voice.

"Yay! The third Alice has come to play!"

"Oh?" Miku turned around. She was a little frightened, but went up to the dream creature anyway. It looked like a cross between a skeleton, a ghost, and a doll. "Oh, what a peculiar creature!" she thought aloud. The thing's smile stretched from ear to ear, literally.

"Hello, Miku!" Its voice was sweet, like poisoned honey. "Welcome to Wonderland! You're looking very pretty today."

Miku had no idea what was going on, but she smiled happily anyway. "Thank you! Umm…how am I here?" The dream creature didn't answer her question.

"That doesn't matter right now. Feel free to do whatever you wish here."

"Wow! This is amazing! I'm going to go look around!" She turned on her heel.

"Ah, not so fast! I have some things for you!"

Miku twirled around for the third time in the last few minutes. "Yay!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands.

Miku bent down to its level, which was pretty short. "I knew you were a club the minute I saw you." it said, and lightly touched her cheek. Miku giggled. "One more thing. Look down at what you're wearing." She did as she was told, and gasped.

She was wearing a beautiful green dress that hugged her body at the top, and flowed out and trailed behind her at the bottom. Lace adorned the puffy long sleeves, as well as the very bottom and at the collar. Pure white bows varying in sizes circled around the bottom, and another bow sat at her chest. She noted the finishing touches: more white bows that held her pigtails in place, a black choker with a green club symbol hanging off it, and long white gloves.

Miku let out a squeal of delight. "Oh, thank you, thank you, so much!' Miku was so happy that she thought about hugging the creature, but decided against it. "This dress is beautiful; I can't thank you enough!" The creature just flashed a fake smile, and pointed behind her. "Go enjoy yourself now, Green One!" She looked confused for a brief moment, but ran off anyway.

Miku didn't know what do look at first. Eventually, a man selling leeks, among other vegetables, caught her eye. She dashed up to his cart, and selected seven of the green stalks. When she was done, she handed them to the shopkeeper. With a greedy smile on his face, he counted how many leeks she had.

"Six…seven…okay, that will be 340 Tal."

Miku was bewildered. "Tal?"

"Yes, yes, it's the currency here!" he said impatiently. "Have you been living under a rock? Or just homeless?"

"Um…I…um," Miku stammered. "I…I'm afraid I'm homeless. Sorry for—"

"Wait," he cut her off. "You're homeless, yet you have a dress like _that_? That looks like something a princess would wear…"

"Ah!" Miku started. "Uh…m-my friend made it for me, but she left. Sorry for troubling you." She quickly bowed and then darted off before the shopkeeper could blink.

_Whew…that was embarrassing…_she thought. _I need to acquire some of this "Tal", but I don't have anything to sell…this is so weird…_But, being an optimistic person, a smile was on Miku's face within two minutes of leaving the stall. She hummed for a while, just walking along, until she ran into a pile of baskets by a stall made of rotting wood. She blinked, then looked around. The sky had darkened. She needed a place to stay.

She began walking again, more alert this time. It was really late, probably around midnight. She couldn't find a single house with any lights on. She was about to lose hope until she came across a small cottage with candlelight flickering in its single window. She thought for a moment, deemed it safe, and walked toward it.

Miku composed herself and knocked lightly on the flimsy door. It slowly creaked open and a frightened hazel eye appeared in the crack. "W-what do you want?" It whispered in a timid, feminine voice.

"I have just arrived in this country," she said politely. "and I have no place to stay. You were the only one with lights still on, so may I spent the night here?"

The eye shrunk to normal size; the person had obviously become more relaxed. "Oh…I thought—never mind. Come on in."

The door was fully open now, revealing a short girl with long, black, wavy hair with a simple black corset dress. "My name is Poison," she stated, inclining her head. "and you are…?"

"Ah! Oh, my name is Miku," she said, bowing her head forward as well. "Well, Mistress Miku, you may come in now." Poison stepped aside, allowing Miku to come in and analyze where she would be staying that night.

The cottage only consisted of one room. There was a large bundle of black sheets in the northernmost part of the hut, acting as a bed. An old log sat in by a fireplace, acting as a table with comfortable-looking cushions circling around. The most interesting thing in the small house was a massive shelf of ingredients and bottles, and a large cauldron that sat by it. Poison smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm a witch...if you're gonna stay in the Green Country for a while, don't tell anyone you stayed here. When you leave, leave out the back door."

Miku nodded, then yawned. Poison smiled again. "Are you getting tired?"

"Yeah..."

"Then drink this," She went over to the shelf and picked out a small bottle of deep purple potion. "You'll fall asleep faster, and have good dreams." Poison didn't seem like the type of person who would hurt someone she just met, so Miku took the potion from her and gulped it down. Her eyelids immediately drooped and she almost collapsed if it had not been for Poison, who jumped behind her and directed her to a few cushions she had grouped together.

* * *

Miku woke up early in the morning to the sound of a cat meowing. Poison was still asleep on the sheets in the corner, her black cloak acting as a blanket. Miku didn't want to bother her, so she tiptoed toward the back door, only to almost trip over a black cat. It looked up at her with red eyes and meowed noisily.

"Naraku!"

Miku jumped, and turned around to see Poison. She opened the door to let the cat out, then shouted, "Naraku! Be good and stay away from my nightshade!" She turned around to grin at Miku. "Would you like something to eat? I'm afraid all I have is riceballs with no filling..."

Miku grinned back at her. "I love riceballs!"

Poison walked over to a blank-looking wall, then pressed down on a certain spot to reveal a hidden cupboard. She handed Miku three riceballs, as well as one for herself. Miku finished quickly, thanked Poison, and headed for the back door.

"Wait...just know that if you need anything at all, you can come here. And one more thing…" Poison gathered a large number of silver coins and poured them into Miku's palms. "This is approximately 1,000 Tal. I would buy food with this, but people won't let me into the village…it belongs with a good person instead of rotting inside my wall."

"Wow, thank you so much!" she said with a smile, which Poison returned.

"It's nothing. Have a good day." Miku eagerly left the witch's house.

The village was bustling with people when Miku left Poison's house. It seemed like everyone was outside; selling, buying, or just being there. Miku remembered that Poison didn't have much food, so she headed to the part of the market where food was sold. _Hmm...she never told me what kind of food she liked..._ When Miku arrived at a random shop, she decided to buy ingredients for sushi and riceballs. She also bought a few leeks for her to munch on back at that first stall, and some fish for Naraku.

She stopped by Poison's house to drop off the food on her doorstep on her way to, well, wherever. Miku wandered through town, until she bumped into a girl with short red hair, who dropped what she was carrying.

"Hey! Watch it, idiot!" She bent down to pick up her dango and glared up at Miku. When she saw who it was, the red haired girl immediately dropped her bags of dango and bowed at Miku's feet. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that! Please forgive me, Your Highness!" Miku looked confused.

"What? I'm not royalty...I think you have me confused with someone else."

The girl picked up her dango again and stood up to scrutinize Miku's face. "Hmm...really? You're pretty enough to be a princess, or even a queen. And you're nice, too...so much better than that bitch queen we have now..." She spat on the ground.

"Queen Akihana...she shouldn't even call herself a queen. She does absolutely nothing for this village, let alone the entire kingdom." She looked at Miku. "You could overthrow her, if you really wanted to."

Miku turned her head to the sky. "Queen...I'll have to think about it. What was your name again? I'm Miku, by the way."

The girl nodded once. "I don't really know my name, but everyone just calls me Aka, because of my hair." She grinned, and shook her head, her short fiery locks whipping her cheeks.

Miku cocked her head to the side. "Why don't you know your name?"

Aka shrugged. "I dunno. 'Cause I'm an orphan, and my parents didn't really give me a name...but I don't give a damn. I like Aka. It suits me. Some people have taken to 'mispronouncing' my name as Aku, but whatever. I can be evil, sometimes…"

Aka grinned at Miku, who took a step back. "Err...um; do you know if there is an inn around here I can stay the night at?"

"Why? Just stay where you were last night...or did you sleep outside?"

"No...thanks though! Good idea...well, gotta run!" True to her word, Miku ran off, leaving the redhead standing in the middle of the marketplace.

"At the foot of the mountain is a deep forest. Come now everyone, please stay here, you don't need to go home~" she sang under her breath. She looked up at the sky, expecting to see a bright sun, but instead she saw a lovely mix of orange and pink as the sun set. _Huh, that's weird...I didn't even notice I was out this late_. _I've been losing track of time lately here…_

She slipped through the back door of Poison's house. Said witch thanked Miku for the food, and told her to help herself. Miku munched on a leek as she watched Poison make potions. It was rather interesting to watch. As Poison ground deadly nightshade with her pestle and mortar, Miku began to get tired. She excused herself, and slowly fell asleep on a few cushions. The teal-haired girl didn't notice when Naraku curled up in a ball beside her.

* * *

When Miku woke up, Poison was gone.

At first, she didn't really pay attention to the unmoving black cloak on the heap of sheets, which appeared as if it were covering someone due to the bulk of the sheets. Miku waited and waited, but the bulk never moved an inch. The absence of Naraku's meowing was beginning to worry her. _Maybe she takes him wherever she goes…_She decided to step outside to see if anything unusual was going on.

Oh, and there was. A huge crowd of villagers swarmed toward an exquisite castle, which was a pastel blue-green in color. Miku gaped at said castle for several seconds before turning to the mob again. She scanned the mass of people for a familiar face and smiled when she saw a head of dark red hair. "Aka!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. The head she spotted turned and advanced toward her.

"Miku! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"That's what I was going to ask! What's going on, anyway?"

"It's the queen. She's been killed! She was found poisoned in her private room! The funeral is going on now!"

Miku stood still as a statue, too shocked to say anything. The only thing on her mind was Poison…had Poison killed the queen? Aka snapped her fingers in front of Miku's face.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Miku blinked. "F-fine. I'm fine." Aka looked at her suspiciously.

"You don't look f—"

"Miku! Hey, Miku! "She whirled around.

A short girl with long, pin-straight hair the color of fresh snow was running toward her, trying not to trip on her long blue dress. She stopped right before running into Miku, panting.

"E…excuse me, do I know you?" she asked courteously,

The girl nodded. "I've seen you in the market before. My name is Miyuki, and this is my cat, Naraku." _Naraku?_ Miku thought.

Miyuki stepped aside, and that small black cat with the red eyes walked up, meowing, and rubbed lovingly against Miku's leg. She gasped, and looked up at "Miyuki", who raised an eyebrow.

"Are you…are you Poison? The witch in the cottage by the woods?" Miku asked, twiddling her thumbs. "Miyuki" looked away.

Aka gaped. "Poison? The queen was poisoned…did you…?"

Poison nodded slowly.

"But how?"

"Well…it was pretty easy. I became one with the shadows, so the guards wouldn't notice me. I slipped into the kitchen and poured a bottle of arsenic into Akihana's soup, simple as that."

Aka stood there in silence.

Poison fidgeted. "Umm, are you planning to t—?"She was cut off by Aka wrapping her arms around her in an ecstatic hug.

"Oh, you're the best! Thank you! She was an awful queen, I'm so glad you got rid of her!"

Poison, relieved that Aka wasn't going to tell someone, smiled. "Well, you're welcome, but for now, we need a new queen for this place."

It was Miku's turn to fidget as Aka and Poison fixed their gazes onto her. She pointed at herself. "You think I should be…queen?"

Aka nodded vigorously. "Of course! You're sweet, smart, thoughtful, beautiful—"

"Not to mention generous," Poison added.

Miku beamed at them. "Thanks a lot, guys…but I'm really not sure about –!"

Aka pushed her forward. "C'mon, the funeral's over. They're looking for a new queen now!"

"What?"

"Yeah, at the village square! Let's go!"

Before Miku could protest, Poison broke in. "Sorry, but I must go. Good luck, Miku!" She changed back into her dark-haired self and disappeared in a haze of red mist.

Miku was pushed to the town square, where the crowd of villagers had gathered around a stage. Some were mourning and some were rejoicing. Aka gave her one last shove and disappeared into the throng as Miku stumbled onto the stage.

All attention was immediately focused onto the young girl. They were all silent, not moving a muscle. Everyone looked at her, as if hypnotized, waiting for her to speak.

"Umm…hello, everyone. I may not look familiar, and that is because I just arrived here. Well…two people I met think I should replace Queen Akihana…" she said, willing her voice not to crack. The crowd did nothing for a very long and uncomfortable second, when suddenly they erupted in cheers. Miku let out a sigh of relief. She didn't think about how odd everything was: the way they looked at her, the way they absolutely loved what she said. She felt her confidence building.

"I can do a much better job of being the queen of this country." More cheers.

"I can give you all a better life! I am intelligent, kind, and beautiful! Those are good qualities of a queen, are they not?" The crowd was going wild; people were stomping their feet, clapping their hands, and screamed as long as their lungs would let them. Miku smiled, not her usual smile, but a cold, hateful, greedy smile.

* * *

Poison jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. Grunting, she pushed her heavy cauldron to a shadowy corner and haphazardly tossed her ingredients onto the shelf. She walked nervously over to the door and opened it just a crack, so that only her eye would show. "Yes? May I help you?"

"It's me, Aka! I gotta talk to you!"

Poison released her breath. "Oh, then in that case, you may come in." Not even a second later, Aka shoved the door open and plopped down onto one of the cushions.

"…I think something's wrong with Miku."

"Why?"

"She hasn't visited us or anything…"

"Well, that's normal if you're someone as important as a queen."

"But you haven't heard the rumors!"

"What rumors?"

"She's been using her looks to get everything she wants, she collects 'tax' every day, and she orders her guards to kill the people who go against her!"

Poison gaped. "Why would she do something like this? She was so nice and—!"

Her sentence was cut short due to the fact that her door fell from its hinges and fell to the floor.

"There they are!" shouted a burly man with a large beard. "It's the witch and her accomplice—get them!" Poison shrieked as the man ran over and grabbed her, while Aka was attempting to fight off other people who were coming in with a rusty kitchen knife. "Poison! Can't you magically teleport us out of here or something?" She yelled. "No! I need my—" The man clapped his hand over her mouth. "Don't speak," he growled. "Get the red-haired girl!" he shouted to the others. They ran at Aka from all directions. One wrestled the knife from her, while another pinned her arms behind her back. Still another found some rope in a corner and proceeded to tie her up.

Poison gave the man a pleading look, but he only ignored her. He tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out of the house, the group carrying Aka closely following. They carried the girls to the town square, to the stage, where three frightening things were: a stake with firewood piled closely around the bottom, a sharp guillotine, and none other than Miku Hatsune.

Aka and Poison's eyes almost popped out of their skulls. Miku only smirked at them. The man shoved Poison to the stake and began to tie her to it. The other group shoved Aka's head through the hole, not caring about the gashes on her neck the wood was giving her. Miku swept to the front of the stage, and everyone immediately quieted.

"These two have committed the crimes of witchcraft and treason! They shall be executed today!" She paused, letting the crowd roar for a few minutes, then cleared her throat. The crowd was silenced. "Now, when I snap my fingers, I am going to light the—AAAAHHHHHH!" She screamed, the sound piercing the eardrums of those nearby. Miku pointed a shaky finger at a mirror from across the marketplace.

"D-d-demon! There's a d-demon! In the mirror!" Everyone's heads snapped towards said mirror, but they only saw the reflection of the petrified queen. "I-it looks like me! B-but I'm not a demon! What is going on here?"

Aka retracted her head from the guillotine and approached Miku. "Miku? Are you okay?"

"Stay away from me!" she yelled, holding her hands up as a shield. "All of you…demons…rotting flesh…no eyes…stay away!" Miku let out one last shattering scream, then crumpled to the ground.

* * *

"Oh, Miku? Miku Hatsune?" a sickly sweet voice asked. Miku opened her eyes. She was lying in the throne room, the dream creature standing over her.

"Oh, thank God, it's you! Get me out of this place…everyone is a corpse…demon…GAH! Just get me out of here!" she pleaded.

The dream creature shook its head. "No, no, I don't think so. You have betrayed your friends and gone mad with power, dear…I think you deserve this punishment. You _will_ be the queen of this kingdom, forever…and ever…and ever…and ever!"

Before Miku could say a word, it cackled and slammed the door to the throne room, leaving Miku lying on the floor.

* * *

_The third Alice was a young and lovely girl from Wonderland  
A truly pretty creature, what's not to understand?  
She charmed all of the people to her every beck and call  
And gave birth to a green country that rose above them all  
The third Alice then became this country's sovereign queen  
But she would rule her nation lost within her own distorted dream  
All she sees is rotting flesh inside her vanity  
Afraid of death, she rules in place for all eternity._


	4. The Fourth Alice, Rin and Len

Len Kagamine flew down the steps of the small house as his twin sister tore after him.

"You can't run forever!" Rin shrieked gleefully.

_Oh yes I can!_ he thought, an idea popping into his head. He stopped abruptly, letting Rin run past him and into a wall with a loud crash. "Oww…" she muttered. But she wasn't down. She jumped right back up again and tackled him.

"Ha! The older sister will always win!"

"Rin. You're older than me by a minute and seven seconds."

"…Shut up!"

Len stole a glance at the clock. "Rin, we need to go to bed. We have school tomorrow.

Rin pouted. "Whaaat? C'mon, can't we just stay up for five more minutes?" Len sighed. He was used to his sister's constant stubborn attitude.

"No, you get really cranky in the morning anyway. Come on, we can still stay up and talk!" he lied.

"All right," Rin said with a twinkle in her eye. "I'll race you there!" She took off upstairs, leaving a confused Len standing in the middle of the dining room.

"H-hey!" he shouted and began to run after her. Around and around the spiral staircase they ran, Rin not showing any signs of weakness.

"I win!" she blurted out, opening the door and collapsing on the bottom section of their bunk bed.

"Rin, I thought you called top bunk tonight."

"I don' wanna move…" she said sleepily, her voice muffled by the cerulean comforter.

"What, you're suddenly tired now?" he asked skeptically. "Fine, I'll sleep in the top bunk."

He climbed the wooden ladder to his designated sleeping area. "Good night, Rin," he said before clicking off the light. She did not answer. Len thought nothing of it; he assumed she had fallen asleep…but he was wrong. Rin had, in fact, disappeared from her deep blue bed sheets the second she had fallen asleep.

Len unknowingly followed his twin into the icy grip of nothingness.

Rin groaned and rolled over in the dirt. A bell clanged loudly in her ear, and she was annoyed that Len had not shut off the stupid alarm yet. She reached over and slammed her hand down with such force that she was sure gears and cogs and what-have-you would be scattered everywhere. But when she brought her tightly clenched fist down, she felt nothing save for a frosty draft.

She snapped her eyes open. A bead of sweat rolled down her face when she realized that what she had just hit was not a clock. It was a…well, she couldn't describe it. Was it a skeleton? A doll? A ghost?

"Ah, you're awake!" it said in a voice that rasped and scratched considerably, yet still held a dab of feigned sweetness. Rin blinked slowly.

"…Len? This is just a bad dream, right? Right?" she asked nervously.

"A bad dream?" the creature broke in. "This is far from a bad dream, dear Alices! It can become anything you imagine!"

"…My name is Rin. And my brother's name is Len. Not 'Alice'."

"Well, you twins of the heart _are_ Alices for the time being—"

"Twins of the heart?"

"Yes…oh, that reminds me!" The thing jumped up and brushed a wispy hand across Rin and Len's opposite cheek. A deep yellow half of a heart laid where the thing had touched, the right half on Rin's right cheek, and the left half on Len's left cheek.

"….Okay then. I'm really confused, so I'm gonna go now. Bye!" Rin shouted, dragging Len with her into the forest.

"Wait!" Len protested, his feet firmly planted in the dirt of the forest floor. "I don't think we should go this way!"

"Why?" Rin whined, still attempting to dislodge his feet from the dirt.

"Look at the path!" He pointed down, and Rin finally noticed the deep red hue of dried blood. It was everywhere—splattered across the trees, dumped on the path, and now, caked to the bottom of the twins' shoes.

"Oh, come on, Len!" It's _dry_. That means whatever happened here happened a looooong time ago, so stop being such a baby! I wanna explore!" she complained noisily, pulling her brother deeper into the forest.

"Rin," Len moaned, beginning to feel uneasy. "T-the blood…it's getting brighter…the further we go…" He clutched his sister's hand.

"Aww, are you scared?" she teased, poking his shoulder. "Well, don't fear! Your big sister Rin is here!" she shouted triumphantly, pointing a finger ahead. Len sighed.

"Wait! Look! There's an opening! It looks bright…I think we've found the end of the forest!" Rin exclaimed, almost ripping her brother's arm out of its socket as she yanked him forward, closer and closer to the light.

They stopped in a clearing, the twins breathing hard. The blood was gone, and the sun shone luminously from between the leaves. A small table scattered with blue rose petals sat in the very middle of the wide clearing.

"Len!" Rin yelled. "Look, on the table! There's tea! …We should have a tea party!"

Len's eyebrow twitched.

"…A tea party?"

"Yes! Come on!" She pulled him down and sat him on a conveniently located tree stump. He sighed, annoyed, and reluctantly poured the deep caramel-colored tea into his glass. Len was about to take a sip, when Rin interrupted him.

"No! You have to drink it all proper-like! You need to take tiny sips and hold your pinky out!" she said, demonstrating. Len sighed and mimicked her.

A few minutes later, Len sat his teacup down with a tiny clink. "Can we go now?"

Rin groaned. "But I haven't finished my—okay, we can go…" she said, intimidated by the menacing look Len was giving her. Rin jumped up and bolted out of the clearing, and almost tripped over something. An envelope, to be exact. Len walked over and helped her up.

"Rin, only you can trip on an envelope…" She ignored him and tore the letter open with her fingernails. The excited girl pulled out a simple card displaying the ace of hearts. On the back someone had scribbled:

_To the one who finds this letter:_

_I would be honored if you would come to my castle for a short dinner. You will be served what you wish and it will be a pleasant experience for all. To get to my castle, you will need to follow the bright red forest path._

_Sincerely,_

_The Queen of Clubs_

"Wow!" Rin gasped. "Dinner with a queen!"

"Rin, wait…did you see what the letter said? 'Follow the bright red forest path'."

"So?"

"Rin! She wants us to follow the trail of blood! This is obviously a trap! We aren't going!"

"But Len!"

"No buts, Rin! It's dangerous!"

"Well if you're not going, I will!"

Rin took off into the forest. She scanned the path and smiled when she saw the bright crimson blood spattered across the dirt and trees.

"Wait!" a voice sounded. Rin heard footsteps thumping up to where she stood. She whirled around and was astonished to see Len.

"Rin. If you really want to go, I'll come with you…just please don't go alone."

Rin's eyes glimmered. She flashed him a wide smirk and laughed. "I knew you wouldn't refuse! I mean, who wouldn't want to go to a lovely castle with the even lovelier Rin Kagamine?" She posed and Len sighed inwardly. "Let's just go." "'Kay!"

For the umpteenth time, Rin grabbed Len's forearm and hauled him further down the path.

"Hey Rin, guess what? My legs work perfectly!"

Rin rolled her eyes. "You might escape!"

"…"

They were beginning to venture into the thicker part of the forest now. The odd thing was, the growing amount of blood still was as bright as ever. The twins couldn't see anything but the blood, and even Rin was frightened. They clutched onto each other and had to feel around them to find where exactly they were going.

"What kind of messed up queen lives in a castle _here_?" Rin asked, breaking the fearful silence.

"I don't know," Len said with difficulty; his throat felt like it was closing up. He ducked, just barely missing a low tree branch. They walked for what seemed like hours, the blood always glowing, never ending.

The twins' hearts skipped a beat when they heard a twig snap.

Out from the forest emerged a girl who looked like she had been here for years. Blood was coated all over her—in her short, scraggly brown hair, all over her torn dress, and sprinkled on her scuffed Mary-Janes. She clutched a sword that looked like it was once beautiful and shiny, but now it was drowned in blood. Unfortunately for the twins, the sword was still as sharp as the day she got it.

"Have you come to play?" she asked sweetly yet insanely. Rin gulped and spoke: "Um, I apologize for coming here, Miss. I-It's not my business and—!"

Before Rin could finish her sentence, Meiko slashed her neck. Even more blood oozed out of Rin's pale throat. Len let out a choked sob. "W-what have you done to my sister?"

He quickly picked up the motionless Rin and ran as fast as he could out of the forest, just barely missing Meiko's sword. He ran and ran and ran, and didn't stop until the trees thinned. Len set his sister down, tore a piece of fabric off his bloody shirt, and pressed it against her wound.

"It won't do any good. She's dead, dear."

Len whirled around, giving him a full view of the dream creature leaning against a tree, its shoulders shaking with laughter.

"W-what's so funny?" Len cried. "My sister is _dead_!"

The thing ignored him.

"Good luck finding your way out of the forest~!" it sang, and disappeared.

Len gritted his teeth.

"Come on Rin…" He picked his dead sister up and walked through every inch of the forest, looking for an exit. The twins search for home to this very day.

_Find the bright red forest path, that's where the journey starts_

_A tea party with blue roses, that's where the forest parts_

_An invite from the queen, it actually was_

_The trump card, the ace of hearts_

_The fourth Alice was a curious pair of siblings who were twins_

_Straying into Wonderland is where their tale begins_

_Interested in the worlds, they passed through many doors_

_Inquisitive in the many wonders, each of them explores_

_The stubborn older sister_

_And witty younger brother_

_Were close to see the nature of the true Alice at hand_

_But both will never wake up from the dream that they had planned_

_Forever they will wander hopelessly in Wonderland_


End file.
